About property acquisition data
Various terms and reporting periods are referenced in the property acquisition data. Read about the data terms.
Terms and reporting periods
In accordance with the NSW Property Acquisition Standards (#5b), NSW acquiring authorities (authorities of state authorised to acquire land under the Land Acquisition (Just Terms Compensation) Act 1991 must report on completed land acquisitions within the nominated financial year.
The data shows acquisition of freehold land, easements and substratum by acquiring authorities in NSW under the Just Terms Act.
Only the data on acquisitions performed under the Just Terms Act are requested from the NSW acquiring authorities and reported by NSW Government annually. Property purchases following their availability for a public sale are excluded from the data set.
- Each reporting period shows completed acquisitions for that period. Completed means gazetted (acquisition notice is published in the NSW Government Gazette) for compulsory acquisitions, or settled for acquisitions by agreement.
- The data shows properties acquired, meaning the acquisition of a freehold interest in the property, easements created or extinguished and substratum interests in land created. The data does not include acquisition of other interest types, such as leases.
- Compulsory acquisitions with consent of the owner, as provided for under sections 30 and 63 of the Just Terms Act are reported as acquisitions by agreement in this data set.
- All compulsory acquisitions by gazettal where agreement has not been reached with the property owner are reported as compulsory acquisitions in this data set.
Changes to 2020-21 data reporting
Roads and Maritime Services/Transport for NSW
In December 2019, Roads and Maritime Services (RMS) became part of Transport for NSW. From 2020-21, acquisitions by the NSW Government which were formerly reported under RMS are now reported by Transport for NSW.
Local councils
In 2020-21, there has been a change in the way local councils are reporting on acquisitions. In the three previous financial years (2017-18, 2018-19, 2019-20), local councils – via the Office of Local Government NSW – focused on reporting all compulsory acquisitions, as these are gazetted.
From 2020-21 onwards, local councils report on acquisitions under the Just Terms Compensation Act including acquisitions by agreement, bringing local government reporting in line with reporting by other acquiring authorities.
Changes to 2024-25 data reporting
As the property acquisition environment is constantly evolving, in 2024-25, there has been a change in the data request scope from the NSW acquiring authorities. From 2024-25 onwards, the data request has been expanded by adding easements and substratum to the property acquisition data request therefore increasing the acquisition volumes reported in 2024-25.